Digital fabrication tools have revolutionized the way designers, engineers, and artisans express their creativity. With the right resources, you can learn to use these powerful instruments in no time! Whether it’s 3D printing or laser cutting that interests you, these articles will provide useful tutorials and inspiration for makers of all levels. Discover how digital fabrication can open up new possibilities so that your craftsmanship is truly extraordinary!
When Bill from I Heart Robotics decided he wanted a cleanroom, he did what any self-respecting maker would do — he built one from scratch. First, he put together a budget lab bench/enclosure from heavy duty MDF shelving. Next, he 3D printed some endcaps to couple a dust filter to a PC cooling fan. Finally, he used a shower curtain to close off the front.
RepRapper Forrest Higgs designed an interlocking beamed structure that could be 3D printed — thus advancing the RepRap’s stated purpose of someday being able to print new RepRaps. Currently much of the support structure cannot be printed. But what if printable girders could be stacked on top of each other? Higgs’ project may not be […]
Cathal Garvey’s proposing a mousetrap design challenge: I have a problem. There lives in my house a tiny mouse, and as I am friend to all animals I wish him no harm. The live mousetrap I tried didn’t work: crafty mouse escaped it repeatedly. I also invented a few wacky methods involving pitfalls, narrow bottles […]
Recently we featured a lively point-counterpoint post featuring Dale Dougherty and Joel Johnson debating the merits of Chris Anderson’s Atoms are the New Bits article in Wired. Now the Thingiverse blog is weighing in with this thoughtful opinion piece by Allan Ecker titled Atoms are not the New Bits. Yet.. What do you think, readers?
This toothbrush case by Dominic Wilcox may be slightly over-engineered, but personally I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to toothbrush protection.
I like this nifty, 3D printed Arduino case that I saw on Shapeways. You can have one made in a variety of materials with prices starting at $77.71. Now, that seems pretty expensive for a project case, but it’s much cheaper than I imagine having an injection mold would cost.
The correct name for the MakerBot 3D printer is the Cupcake CNC, suggesting that all sorts of attachments could be substituted for the usual plastruder — in this case, Andrew “Clothbot” Plumb created an assembly out of some makerbotted connectors and a length of MakerBeam, allowing the mounting of the business end of a Dremel […]
